Hope in my arms
Last year, I was invited to participate in a carnival for Tuesday’s Child, an organization that helps children with AIDS.
All the children that had gathered at one particular room could   36  a square on a piece of cloth. Later the squares would be sewn(缝) together to  37  a quilt. The quilt would be  38  to a man who had devoted his life to the  39  and would soon be   40 .
The kids were given paints in bright colors and asked to paint something that would make the quilt  41 . As I looked around at all the squares, I saw pink hearts, blue clouds, orange sunrises and red flowers. The pictures were all bright and  42 . All   43  one.
One boy was painting a heart, but it was dark and lifeless. It  44  the bright colors that his fellow artists had used.I asked why. He told me that he was very   45  and so was his mom. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and neither was his mom’s. He looked   46  into my eyes and said, “There is no hope in my life.”
I told him I was sorry and I could understand why he had made his heart a dark color. I told him that   47  we couldn’t make him better, we can give  48 , which can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be   49  to give him one so he could see what I meant.  50 , he crawled into my lap. I thought my own heart would burst for this sweet little boy.
He sat there for a long time. Finally he  51  down to finish his coloring.
As I was getting ready to  52  home, I felt a tug (猛拽) on my jacket. Standing there was the little boy,  53 . He said, “My heart is changing  54 . It is getting brighter. I think those hugs really do  55 .”
On my way home I felt my own heart. It too had changed to a brighter color.

When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California．Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times．Polly's son, Jim．had great difficulty in school．He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers．But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room．His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride．Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident．After his death, his mother submitted（提交）this letter to the newspaper．

Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you.”

I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people.

When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., your angry feelings won’t amount to much.

I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye.” He gave me something to treasure forever.

If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care.

61．According to the passage, we know that _______．

         A．Jim kept to himself    B．Jim did very well in his studies

         C．Jim’s parents were patient with him         D．Jim failed to finish his high school

62．Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

         A．Many people in the school loved him.

         B．Jim’s smile cheered up his family.

         C．Jim was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 20.

         D．Jim wanted to be a motorcyclist after his graduation.

63．The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 means _______．

         A．annoying    B．aggressive          C．impatient  D．thrilling

64．By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the author intends to _______．

         A．mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident

         B．remind people to be cautious of motorcycles

         C．advise people to take the chance to express their love in time

         D．apreciate more of life than ever before

65．What can be the best title of the passage?

         A．Love your Family．    B．Do it Today．

         C．Walk with Pride．     D．Appreciate Smiles．

This is a true story. Tristin Saghin enjoyed the movie Black Hawk Down very much，which is about the conflict in Somalia.The battle scenes and the exciting rescues of people who are dying，interested him greatly.
There was just one problem：Tristin was only 9 years old，and it was thought that movie was not for children. When his parents caught him watching it on TV，they made him turn it off，though he had finished his homework and it was not late. Then one day，Tristin and his family were visiting his grandmother in Mesa，Arizona. Tristin’s 2­year­old sister got out of the house and fell in the backyard pool. Realizing the little girl was missing，the family ran outside，only to find the girl had fallen into the water.
Pulled from the pool and placed on the ground，the child wasn’t breathing. The family called the ambulance (救护车)，but no one knew how to do first aid. No one，that is，except for Tristin. A scene in Black Hawk Down describes a doctor giving first aid. Tristin remembered it. Then the 9­year­old gave first aid to his sister at once and saved her life.
His parents don’t stop him seeing the movies he likes any more. Tristin taught himself how to do first aid but he had never thought he could use it to save his little sister’s life. Any skill can be used in time，so you should always learn.
【小题1】Black Hawk Down is a(n)________．

John Smith was a writer, who wrote detective stories for magazines, though he never dealt with criminals（罪犯）. One evening he could not finish an end for a story. He sat in his study（书房）, but he had no ideas. So he decided to go to the cinema.

When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note.

“I have read your story and I don’t think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I’m not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return.”

John read the thief’s suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his “visitor” to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study.

56. Detective stories are stories about      .

  A. science        B. children      C. the future      D. the police

57. John went to the cinema because                    .

  A. he was too tired

  B. he wanted to look for a thief

  C. he could not finish his story and hoped to get some ideas

  D. he wanted to enjoy himself in the cinema

58. The visitor came to John’s house in order to              .

  A. steal something  B. read the story  C. have a drink  D. visit the writer

59 The visitor                   .

  A. stayed in John’s house for a night    B. took some of John’s things away

  C. left John some advice              D. was a good friend of John’s

60. John would like to                    .

  A. have a talk with his visitor

B. get more ideas from the visitor

  C. make friends with the visitor

 D. catch the visitor and take him to the police

DCAC

Hank Viscardi was born without legs. He had not legs but stumps (残肢) that could he fitted with a kind of special boots, People stared at him with cruel interest. Children laughed at him and called him‘Ape Man’(猿人) because his arms practically dragged on the ground.

  Hank went to school like other boys. His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve. After graduating from school, he worked his way through college. He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices. During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps. But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer. He would soon have to use a wheel chair.

  Hank felt himself got cold all over. However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificiallegs(假腿). Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror, for the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be-a full five feet eight inches tall. By this time he was already 26 years old.

  Hank had to learn to use his new legs. Again and again he marched the length of the room, and marched back again. There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching. He went out on the street. He climbed stairs and learned to dance. He built a boat and learned to sail it.

  When World War II came, he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job. He took the regular training. He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers. Few knew that he was legless. This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs.

1.Children laughed at Hank and called him ‘Ape Man’ because       .

A. he didn’t talk to them

B. he kept away from them

C. his arms touched the ground when he moved

D. he couldn’t use his arms

2.It can be inferred from the story that five feet eight inches tall is       .

A. an average height for a fully grown person

B. too tall for an average person

C. too short for an average person

D. none of the above

3.The sentence “he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job” implies that the Red Cross       .

A. was only glad to give him a job

B. give him a job because he was a good soldier

C. gave him a job after he talked to someone whom he knew in the organization

D. was not willing to give him a job at first

4.When Hank marched and drilled along with the other soldiers, he       .

A. did everything the other soldiers did

B. did most of the things the other soldiers did

C. did some of the things the other soldiers did

D. took some special training

5.The writer suggests that Hank Viscardi        .

A. had no friends

B. never saw himself as different from others

C. was very shy

D. was too proud to accept help from others